Selector mechanism



March 18, 1952 G. x. LENS SELECTOR MECHANISM Filed March 24, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET l Inventor ERGE X- LENS Attorney March 18, 1952 G. x. LENS SELECTOR MECHANISM 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed March 24, 1950 Inventor EORG'E X. LEN` Altorney Patented Mar. 18, 1952 SELECTOR MECHANISM Georges Xavier Lens, Antwerp, Belgium, assgnor to International Standard Electric Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application March 24, 1950, Serial No. 151,593 In France April 1, 1949 The present invention relates to a controlling or selecting mechanism using mechanical clutchmg.

It is based upon the use of an arrangementJ comprising a movable member successively placed under the dependence of two controlling bars, having been the object of the U. S. patent application iiled by the applicant on December 31, 1949, Serial No. 136,188 (G. X. Lens 39).

The object oi the invention is the constitution of a combination of multiple controlling or select ing mechanisms permitting to obtain the displacement, in two directions, of control devices and to cause, for each of these displacements, a predetermined action. This combination can, for instance, be used as a mechanical selector for the constitution of selector switches such as those provided in telecommunication, telesignal ling, telecontrol installations or similar installations.

Another object of the invention is the realization of an assembly of different constituting members to form a combination which has a reduced volume while permitting a large number of controlling or selecting actions,

One of the characteristics of the present invention resides in a controlling or selecting mechanisrn constituted by the combination of two bars, one vertical, the other horizontal, movable in the longitudinal sense, of a movable member, constituting a clutch member which, in the rest position, is under the control of the vertical bar and, when the said vertical bar comes into a working position, under the control of the horizontal bar,

of a controlling device actuated by the movable member during its displacement by the horizontal bar, the said controlling device being able to occupy two diierent positions according to the sense of displacement of the horizontal bar and acting, either directly or indirectly, upon the device to be controlled, means being provided to return the control device to its rest position when the freed horizontal bar is itself returned to its rest position.

Another characteristic of the present invention resides in the fact that a movable member constituting the cluch member, having been placed under the control of a horizontal bar by means of a vertical bar coming into a working position and, the said horizontal bar coming into a working position, the vertical bar can be returned to a rest position and be used for other selections.

Another characteristic of the invention resides in'the fact that the lever arm which is a constituting part of a controlling device, comprises 6 Claims. (Cl. 'I4-483) at its end a slot which is located in front of a slot provided in the horizontal bar, both said slots being designed to receive the movable member which causes the clutching of the lever and of the horizontal bar.

Another characteristic of the invention resides in the provision of Xed pieces having a profiled shape, xed vertically on both sides of a supporting plate and regularly spaced, between 'which, movable vertical bars are displaced and laterally guiding the movable members, on one hand, when the said movable members are in a rest position in their slots provided in the vertical bars, and on the other hand when the said movable members are in a working position during the displacement of the movable horizontal bars.

Another characteristic of theinvention resides in horizontal fixed pieces having a profiled shape, on which the movable horizontal bars are sliding during their displacements, the said horizontal iixed pieces comprising at their upper part an inclined plane on which the movable members are rolling to return to their rest position in the slots provided in the movable vertical bars during the return of the movable horizontal bars to the rest position.

`Other characteristics will become more apparent from the following description which is given as a non-limitative example, with reference to the appended gures which represent:

Fig. l is a perspective View of part of a combination of controlling or selecting mechanism on which only those parts necessary for a good understanding of the operations have been represented, some of these parts being represented in cross-sectional views to show also how they are dependent upon one another and the way in which they are assembled;

Figs. 2a, 3a, and 4a, a cross-sectional side view of a ball controlling or selecting mechanism respectively: in the rest position, the vertical bar in the working position, the horizontal bar and the controlling device in the working position, the vertical bar having been returned to the rest position;

Figs. 2b, 3b and 4b, cross-sectional plan views corresponding respectively with Figs. 2a, l3a and 4a.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will now be described how a controlling or selecting mechanism is constituted.

A movable vertical selecting bar such as I. having an appropriate cross-section, comprises slots such as 2, in which movable members constituted by balls such as 3 are located. Each slot 2 comprises at its lower part an inclined part 4. The lower part of the vertical bar I is terminated by a shoulder piece having an L-shape, as represented on the figure, by means of which the said bar comes to rest, in the rest position, upon a xed plate 5. The lower end of the bar I comprises a slot 7, profiled as indicated on ther figure, by means of which the said bar is made mechanically dependent upon an appropriate device, not shown, controlling its vertical translating movement.

A spring 8 which rests on one hand` onjthe lower face of the plate 6, orr the other hand, on a shoulder piece 9, iixed to the bar I, ret'urnsthe said bar from its working position to its rest position. The balls such as 3 are laterally guided in their slots such as 2 by the lateral surfaces of iixed vertical pieces such as I.

A movable horizontal clutch bar such as II, having a proled shape as represented on the figure, comprises on one side regularly and laterally spaced indentations such as I2., I2', designed to receive the balls such as 3, fromY the movable vertical bars such as I placed in a working position, and on thev otherl side, openings such as I3, I3 permitting the insertion of lever arms such as Ill, I4. A rib4 I5 has been made in one of the sides of the horizontalbar II in order to make it more-rigid. A piece such as I6, ended in the form of a U is assembled at one of the ends of the horizontal bar I-I. A slot I'I, at the other end of the piece IS, is-provided for placing the horizontal bar under thev control of an appropriate device, not shown-controlling its longitudinal displacements. The movable horizontal bar II, for its return to the rest position, is subjected to the actionl ofa resilientl device constituted by spring I8', held on one hand in the slot of al fixed vertical bar I8A which goes through the piece I5 by an opening 20- having a buttonhole shape; andv on the other hand, in a slot provided in the piece IE, laterally located with respect to the opening` 20. The length kof the opening 28 is sufficiently large so that the piece I5 does not hinderA the displacement of the horizontal bar in one sense or the other.

rEhe movable horizontal bar Il is supported and guided by a profiled cross piece such as-2I, fixed to the vertical xed pieces Iii. More particularly, the said cross piece 2i presentsV onits upper face an inclined plane 22 on which the balls 3 are rolling to returnv to their rest position in the slots 2 provided in the movable vertical bars I.

A controlling device constituted on one hand,` by a lever such as I4 having an L. shape as rep-- resented on the ligure, rotating around 23,-and comprising two arms 24 and 25, and cn-the other hand, by a pusher 2-8, mechanically related to the said lever, acts, by the free end 3410i the pusher 23, either directly, or indirectly, onthe device to be controlled, e. g. a commutating device.

The arm 24 of the lever I4; terminated byA a fork 25 located in front of the indentationsY I2` provided in the movable horizontal bar II,v penetrates inside the said bar via an opening-such as I3. The lever I4 is made mechanically dependent upon the pusher 28 by the end of the arm 25 which is inserted in an opening 2l provided in the said pusher. A supporting piece 33 having a U shape guides the pusher 28, the said pusher going throughV the two. parallel! sides 3`I and 32 of the piece 33 by two openings28a'nd 30. AA resilient device constituted by a spring 35 located in an opening provided in the pusher 28, returns the controlling device from its working positions to its rest position.

It will now be described how a controlling or selecting mechanism is operated.

On Fig. 1, as well as on Figs. 2a and 2b, the various parts of the mechanism are in the rest position. The movable selecting vertical bar I is in S0, the movable horizontal clutch bar II in En, the pusher 28 in Po and the ball 3 in the slot 2, rests against the upper edge 35 of the profiled cross piece 2| (Fig. 2a).

When the vertical bar I, actuated in an upward direction, along the arrow f1, by any appropriate controlling device, is brought into its working position S1 (Figs. 1, 3a and 3b), the ball 3 follows the displacement of the said bar (arrow f2) and, rolling along the inclined plane 4 comes into the slot I2 and the fork 26 of the lever arm 24 upon the inclined plane 22 of the cross piece 2l. |The vertical displacement of the bar I is calculated in such a manner that the upper edge of the inclined plane is raised above the edge 35 of the cross piece 2| in such a manner that the ball 3 is maintained in its position in the indentation I2 and the fork 25 against the straight part 3'.' of the movable vertical bar I.

It will now be assumed that the horizontal clutch bar II is actuated in the sense of the arrow f3 (Figs. l-ia and 4b) by any appropriate controlling device, and is moved from its rest position Eo to its working position E1.

For the displacements of the horizontal bar I I, it will be referred to the displacements shown at the end of the bar II (Fig. l), all the horizontal bars being constituted in an identical manner.

The movable vertical bar I is still in the working position S1. During its displacement, the horizontal bar II, by the side 38 of the indentation I2 (Fig. 4b), carries away the ball 3 which is then guided by the piece I0 and simultaneously, the ball 3 carries away, by means of the fork 25, the lever I4 which, pivoting around its axis 23, carries away in the sense of the arrow fa by its arm 25, the pusher 28 which comes into position P1 and actuates the controlling device considered.

When the horizontal bar II is in the working position, the vertical bar I4 can return to the rest position, without modifying the position of the pusher 28, the ball 3 being maintained in the working position by the horizontal bar I I and the iixed piece I0.

To suppress the action of the pusher 28 upon the controlled device, it is merely necessary tok taneously, under the combined action of the ball' 3 and the spring 35, the controlling device (pusher 28 and lever I Ll) returns to its rest position.

When the horizontal bar II is actuated in the sense of the arrow f4 (Fig. 1) and comes into its second working position E2, the ball-3' following the displacement of the said'bar, carries away in its displacement the lever I4 which acts'orithe pusher 28 in the sense of the arrow f4, the said pusher 28 coming into working position Pz.

It will now be described, by referring again to Fig. 1, how the xed pieces l and the cross pieces 2| are constituted and the manner in which these various pieces are interassembled to form a combination of several controlling or selecting mechanisms.

The xed pieces having a U shape, are provided on the edges of the parallel sides, with slots such as 39 and iixing tags such as 40, arranged in such a manner that a slot 39 alternates with a tag 40 and that a tag on one of the parallel sides is aligned with a slot on the other side.

These pieces l0 are fixed vertically in front of another, on both sides of a central supporting plate 4| in which small openings such as 42 are provided in order to receive the tags 4|). On the other hand, the arrangement of the pieces ID on both sides of the plate 4|, is such that to a tag 40 on a piece Ill corresponds a slot 39 on the piece located opposite on the other side of the plate 4|, the said slots 39 being provided so as not to hinder the full engagement of the tags 40 in the small openings 42.

The profiled cross pieces 2| on which the horizontal clutch bars such as Il are sliding, comprise also fixing tags such as 43, regularly spaced as shown on Fig. 1. These tags 43 are introduced into small openings such as 44 provided in the central part of the pieces IIJ having a U shape. To consolidate this assembly, these cross pieces 2| are screwed by means of screws such as 45 which go through the said cross pieces 2|, via holes such as 46 and are screwed in holes such as 41 provided in the vertical fixed pieces I0.

The movable vertical selecting bars such as I', are located between the pieces lll, while the hori- Zontal clutch bars such as are resting on each cross piece 2|. In such a manner one obtains, in a reduced space, a combination of controlling mechanisms permitting to perform multiple selections among appropriate devices which can, for example, be constituted by commutating mechanisms.

Without leaving the scope of the invention, one could utilize the various elements constituting this combination of controlling or selecting mechanisms, in whole or in part, as good or poor electrical conductors.

What I claim is:

l. Controlling or selecting mechanism such as used for single or multi-switches in telecommunication or similar installations comprising, a plurality of sets of two mutually perpendicular bars each movable in ya longitudinal direction, a clutch member which is under the control of the rst of said bars in the rest position and which is placed under the control of the second of said bars when said rst bar moves into a working position, a controlling device placed under the control of said clutch member when said rst bar moves into a working position whereby displacements of said second bar in one sense or the other will cause said controlling device to be actuated by said clutch member and to be displaced to one out of two positions according to the sense of displacement of said second bar, thereby acting directly or indirectly upon the device to be controlled, means being provided to return said control device to the rest position when said second bar returns to the rest position.

2. .Controlling or selecting mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein said controlling device comprises a lever with two arms, the rst being used to act upon the device to be controlled, the second having a forked or similarly shaped end designed to receive said clutch member when said first bar moves into a working position,

3. Controlling or selecting mechanism as claimed in claim 2, wherein after said controlling device has been actuated by said clutch member, the latter is maintained in a working position by said second bar, said rst bar being able to return to a rest position and be used for other controlling or selecting operations.

4. Controlling or selecting mechanism as claimed in claim 3, wherein each of said rst bars is displaced between two xed bars parallel to the rst bars, whereby when said clutch member is displaced under the control of said rst bar, it is guided between the two adjacent surfaces of said parallel xed bars and When it is displaced under the control of said second bar, it is guided between the forked end of said controlling device and a surface of one of the adjacent parallel fixed bars, perpendicular to said adjacent surfaces.

5. Controlling or selecting mechanism as claimed in claim 4, wherein each of said second bars, when displaced, slides on top of a parallel lixed bar, the upper side of which is inclined in such a manner that lafter said rst bar has returned to the rest position and as soon' as said second bar returns to the rest position, said clutch member rolls or slides along said inclined upper side to return under the control of said rst bar.

6. Controlling or selecting mechanism as claimed in claim 5, wherein all of said lixed bars parallel to said second bars are xed to the xed bars parallel to said first bars, the latter xed bars being xed on both sides of a fixed supporting plate.

GEORGES XAVIER LENS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 601,757 Gwen Apr. 5, 1898 2,043,783 Tyler June 9, 1936` 2.503.669 Haverslev Apr. 11. 1950 

